Oh, wait, one more thing: the alleged Bush-bashing stuff [in Star Wars: Episode III] has been completely overblown. Trust me on this one. If you get offended by this movie on political grounds, you probably also go into a frothing rage when the car in front of you turns on its left-turn signal. If it weren't for the dumb press coverage, you wouldn't even notice the supposed "controversial" bits.

Dear MoveOn member,

We've written tens of thousands of letters, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls (20,000 Tuesday alone), and raised a whopping $1.2 million to run ads. Now, as the vote on the nuclear option looms, it's time to break out our secret weapon. We've got to, as the movie says, "use the force."

Today, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith opens at theaters nation-wide. And weirdly enough, the plot of what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest films in movie history revolves around a scheming senator who, seduced by visions of absolute power, transforms a democratic republic into an empire.

We've put together a new TV ad, based on the same theme, that we're launching today. It's our first (and only) political ad to feature both a space battle and an army of judge robots. You can check it out at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/savetherepublic/?id=5543-396431-OX0KcMaPfy15F63lJb1p9Q&t=11

The movie's opening buzz and its parallel theme to our current fight for the filibuster present a great opportunity to educate the public — and have some fun. So we've put together a flyer that draws on the Revenge of the Sith story to explain the very real threat to democracy posed by the nuclear option. Any chance you can take half an hour tonight or tomorrow to pass out some of these flyers at your local theater?